Cartridge feed mechanism



ink?

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. DABRASKY CARTRIDGE FEED. MECHANISM Fiied sept. 15, 1930 Jamas, 1932;.

A INVENToR. t D ab r ask /RNEY Jan, 26, 1932.

A. DABRASKY CARTRIDGE FEED MECHANISM Filed Sept. l5, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 -51mm -mwmt INVENToR .Must Dahrask ToRNE Jan. 26, 1932.

.Filed Sept. 15, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 26, 1932. A. DABRASKY CARTRIDGE FEED MECHANISM' l Filed Sept. 15, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 t Dah rasy INVENTOR.

f TTORNIY Auu.

Jan. 26, 1932. A. DABRASKY` CARTRIDGE FEED MECHANISM Filed sept. 15. 195o 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENToR. Aug wat Dahra'sk M/FTWTORN Patented Jan. 2e, 1932 UNT@ STTS AUGUST DABRASKY, F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA CARTRIDGE FEED IBllECHANISM:v

Application filed September 15, 1930. Serial No. 482,010.

(GRANTED 'UNDER THE ACT 0F MARCH 3, 1883, AS AMENDED APRIL 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein may be Ymanufactured and used` by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon. The subject of this invention is a cartridge feed `mechanism particularly adapted for multiple gun mounts of the genera-l type disclosed in Patent No. 1,669,662 of May 15, 1928.

The defense against fast-moving and lowl flying aircraft which remain in range during only a-brief interval is conducted by means of rapid fire guns having a capacity for delivering-a great volume of lire. In Order to take full advantage of the fire power of the gun the ammunition supply mustv be uninterrupted during the course of the target.

A-mechanism for supplying ammunition to the gun must take into consideration the balance of the tipping parts, the inclination and the rapid changes in inclination of the tipping parts in tracking aerial targets, theA necessity for feeding the ammunition in the plane of 'the feedway of the gun and the capacity of the feed mechanism of the gun for lifting a loaded belt.

With all of these requirements in view, however, it is proposed in the present -invention to-support the ammunition on the traversing parts but not on the tipping parts, to provide a volute guide on the tipping parts to assure insertion of the ammunition in the plane of the feedway of the gun irrespective of inclination, to su'pply an ammunition elevating or advancing device deriving 'its power from recoil of the gun and synchronized therewith. In addition, provision is made for manually advancing the ammunition to initially load the gun and'for connecting separate belts of ammunition in order that the supply may be rendered continuous. With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made Within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation, parts in section, of the improved feed mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a sectional viewon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Y Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the frame prior to assembling the feed mechanism;

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are detail sectional views on the respective lines of Fig. 3;

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of the shaft housing;

F ig. 10 is a sectional view on the line 10-10 of Fig.' 9;

Figs. 11 and 12 are respectively views in elevation and section of the cap for the bearmg;

Fig. 13 is a detail sectional view on the line 13 13 of Fig. 2; Y

Figs. 14 and 15 are respectively a longitudinal sectional view( and a plan view ofthe ammunition box; o

Figs. 16 and 17' are detail views of the connection between the bell crank lever and the cradle;

Fig. 18 is an end viewvof the gland on the actuating shaft; and

Fig. 19 is an end view of the nut associated with the gland.`

Referring tothe drawings by characters of reference:

There is shown in Fig. 1 a base 5 mounted for movement in azimuth about a vertical pivot 6. On the base are upright standards 7 (only one of which is shown) in which a cradle 8 is supported through its side plates i 8a on trunnions 9. The cradle 8 through its spaced adjusting plate 8b` carries a recoil cradle 10 in a manner similar to that shown in Patent No. 1,669,662, on which one or more, and preferably four, machine guns 11 are secured so that the ammunition feedways 12 of the guns are between the trunnions and fill consequently, have a minimum displacelent when the gun is elevated.

Depending from the cradle 8 is a box rame consisting of a front plate 13, a rear late 14, and side plates 15-15 and providug a compartment below each of the guns. n the longitudinal center of the compartoent is a vertically disposed volute cartridge ,-uide 16 having a turn of 90 (Fig. 13). The guide consists of a plate 17 having the side dges lturned'in and over to form channels 8. The lower end of the guide is formed nto an enlarged entrance having cheeks 19 see Figs. 2 and 3), a front lip 20 and a rear ip 21. The upper end constituting the exit 52 is bent 90o to dispose it alongside of the eedway 12 of the gun. The guide is secured |o the cradle 8 by means of bolts 23 and one )f the cheeks 19 is secured to an adjacent side )late by means of bolts 24 While the other :heek is spaced from its corresponding side Aalate, as shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 4, each of the side plates s provided with an aperture or recess 25, and l plate 26secured to the side plate has a half nearing 27 ldisposed in and facing the apersure and extending on both sides of the side plate. A cap 28 (Fig. 3) for the bearing is readily assembled thereon.

In a series of parallel compartments, the bearing 27-28 is of. suiicient extent to support the adjacent ends of shafts 29, one for each of the compartments. One vend of the shaft 29 is provided with an external cone 30 for engagement with the internal cone 31 (Figs. 3 and 9) on the corresponding end of a cylindrical housing 32 enclosing the shaft. The housing is supported in spaced relation with respect to the shaft by' means of an internal annular flange 33 and a gland 34 which has fingers 35 fitting between wings 36 on a nut 37 threaded on the shaft29 (Figs. 5, 18 and- 19). The head of the gland 34 is positioned between the end of the housing 32 and the races 38 of an anti-friction bearing for the shaft. l

A collar 39splined on the shaftand supported by the nut 37 seats a spring 40 embracing the shaft and confined by the internal flange 33 of the housing. The spring normally holds the clutch face of the housing in engagement with the clutch face of the shaft.

Mounted on the housing 32 and confined between an integral collar .41 and a separate collar 42 is a sprocket wheel 43 having spaced sets of teeth 44 whose inter-spaces are dimensioned to accommodate a cartridge. The end of the Wheel 43 adjacent to the clutch is provided with ratchet teeth 45. A ange 46 on the housing 32 has an externally channeled rim 47 overlying the ratchet teeth. The grooved rim carries one ormore pawls 48 (Fig. 6) extending through apertures 49 to engage the ratchet whccl. `Three pawls arc preferably 'provided so that, as shown in Fig. 6, they may be distributed over the pitch of the gear teeth ofthe ratchet wheel. Only one of the pawls is in driving engagement but in the event of its failure onl one-third of the width of a tooth will be lost before the next pawl takes hold.

The cap 28 for the bearing 27 includes a flange 5() carrying an offset rim 51 extending over the rim 47 of the housing 32 and having an internal channel 52. ()ne or more holding pawls53 (Fig. 7) preferably three of them, arranged similarly to the pawls 48 are mounted in the channel 52.

- The lnechanisni for imparting a step-bystep rotation of the shaft comprises a bell crank lever 54 (Figs. 1 and 2) whose fulcrum 55 is mounted in ears 56 depending from the cradle. The short arm 54a of the bell crank is inserted through an aperture 57 in the cradle and -pivotally carries a block 58 fitting in a cylinder 59 on the recoil cradle.

The long arm 54b'of the bell crank carries a rod 540 movable with respect thereto and held in adjusted position by nuts 60 engaging the long arm. On the end of the rod 540 is secnreda link 61 which in turn is secured to a crank arm 2 hung on the clutch end of the shaft 29. The crank 62 is connected to the shaft through a pin 63 (Fig. 3) so that oscillation of the lever will rock the shaft and the housing 32 that is clutched thereto.

A device for manually operating the sprocket consists of a bar 64 mounted on a pair of swinging links, one link indicated at 65 being'pivoted to one of the side plates and the other link pivotally hung on the sprocket and carrying a single pawl 67 (Fig. 8) engageable with the ratchet wheel.

As shown in Fig. 1, the arrangement of the feed mechanism with respect to the feedway of the gun is designed to utilize the space under theforward part of the gun for positioning the belts of ammunition. In a multiple gun mount'there is provided a trough or compartment 69 for each gun t0 be supplied with ammunition. In the floor of the trough are a plurality of rollers 70 sloping toward the feed mechanism to provide a gravity-conveyor.

The ammunition is carried in a belt 71 which may be either of the fabric or the disintegrating metallic link -construction, the latter .type being preferred. The belts in folded form, as shown in Fig. 1 are placed in a trough 72 on the base 5 in such a manner that the two ends73 and 74 are availablele v'spectively' for attachment to the preceding and the following belt. In order to facilitan` such disposition of the lbelts the box 75 Yin which each of them is carried has a transverse partition 76 spaced from and parallel to one end to form a chamber 77 capable of receiving one thickness of the bell'. The box is closed by 'a cover 78 held in place by a pin 79 and.

emovably inserted through the ends of the The operation of placing a belt of ammunition in the trough consists in placing a box in inverted position in a trough, withdrawing the pin and then removing the box. The belt resting on the cover will remain in the trough with its two ends in exposed position. The operation of initially loading the gun consists in placing the end 7 3 of the belt in the cartridge guide 16 and actuating the bar 64 to intermittently rotate thel sprocket and elevate the' belt to the feedway of the gun.

In firing the gun the recoil cradle has a re- 35 ciprocal motion and by virture of its connection with the bell crank lever 54 it oscillates the latter and through the link 61 and lever 62, the shaft 29 is rocked. l The clutch between the shaft and the housing being normally engaged, the pawls 48 carried by the housing will have a period of oscillation corresponding tothat of the bell crank. The.

stroke of the pawls is calculated to rotate the 26 sprocket and elevate the belt a distance equal cartridges. In this way the sproket is synchronized with the recoil cradle acting as a power opera-tor and alone serves to elevate and holdthev belt, thereby insuring that no burden is placed on the feed mechanism of Ithe gun. Any tendency to move the belt through a greater distancewill be prevented because of the ability of the clutch to slip.

Each belt may conveniently be made to hold 200 rounds of ammunition and with a rate of fire of 600 per minute there will be "amallowance of twenty seconds in which to Vplace the belt in the trough and make the connection. Continuous firing will, therefore, be assured while the target is inrange and no stoppages can occur due to inability tov feed.

I claim:

l. In a gun mount, a rotatable carriage, a cradle plate trunnioned on the carriage, a recoil cradle on the cradle plate, a frame depending from the cradle plate, a volute cartridge guide secured to the cradle plate and frame and having its exit terminating in line with the cradle plate trunnions, a shaft mounted in the frame adjacent the entrance to the guide, a housing embracing the shaft and having a clutch engagement therewith, a sprocket having a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on the housing, driving pawls carried by the housing and engageable with the ratchet wheel, holding pawls carried by the frame and engageable with the ratchet wheel, a bell crank lever carried by the frame and having one arm connected with the recoil cradle and the other 'arm connected with the shaft and manually operable means for driving the sprocket.

2. In a gun mount, a rotatable carriage, a cradle plate trunnioned on the carriage, a reto the distance between the axes of adjoining coil cradle on thel cradle plate, a frame depending from the cradle plate, a cartridge uide in the frame,- a shaft mounted in the rame adjacent the entrance to the guide, a housing embracing the shaft and having a clutch'engagement therewith, a sprocket hav-- ing a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on the housing, driving pawls carried by the housling'and engageable with the ratchet wheel,

holding pawls carried bythe frame and engageable with the ratchet wheel, and a bell crank lever carried by the frame andhaving one arm connected with therecoil cradle and the rother arm connected with the shaft.

3. Ina gun mount, a rotatable carriage, a cradle plate trunnioned on the carriage, a recoil cradle on the cradle plate, a frame de pending from the cradle, a cartridge guide in the frame having its exit in line with the cradle plate trunnions, a cartridge engaging SJ member adjacent the entrance to the cartridge guide, a clutched actuator for driving said member, power means for oscillating the actuator in synchronism with the recoil cradle, and manually operable means for driving the cartridge engaging member.

4. In a gun mount, a rotatable carriage, a cradle plate trunnioned on the carriage, a recoil cradle on the cradle plate, a frame depending from ,the cradle, a cartridge guide in the frame having its exit in line with the cradle plate trunnions, a cartridge engaging member adjacent the entrance to the cartridge guide, a clutched actuator for driving said member, and power means for oscillating the actuator in synchronism with the recoil cradle.

5. Ina gun mount, a rotatable carriage, a cradle plate trunnioned on the carriage, a recoil-cradle on the cradle plate, a frame depending from the cradle, a cartridge guide' in the frame, a cartridge engaging member adjacent the entrance to the cartridge guide,

a clutched actuator for driving said member,` and power means for oscillating the actuator in synchronism with the recoil cradle.

6. In a gun mount, a rotatable'carriage, a cradle plate trunnioned on the carriage, a recoil cradle on the cradle plate, a frame depending from the cradle, a cartridge guide in the frame, a cartridge engaging member adjacent the entrance to the cartridge guide, a clutched actuator for driving said member, and power means for intermittently oscillating the actuator.

7. In a gun mount, a rotatable carriage, a cradle trunnioned thereon, a frame depending from the cradle, a cartridge guide 1n the frame, cartridge advancing means carried by the frame adjacent the guide, means for actu- 125 lating said cartridge advancing means, and

means on the carriage for holding a cartridge belt in position with respect to the cartridge guide.

8. In a gun mount, a traversing carriage., '139 tipping parts on the carriage arranged to support a gun, cartridge feed and guide mechanism carried by the tipping parts, and means on the traversing carriage for holding cartridges in position with respect to the feed mechanism.

l 9. In a gun mount, a traversing carriage, tipping parts on the carriage arranged to support a gun, cartridge feed mechanism carried by the tipping parts, and means on the traversing carriage for holding cartridges in position with respect to the feed mechanism. i

10. In cartridge feed mechanism, a guide, a shaft mounted adjacent the entrance of the guide, a housing embracing the shafting and having a clutch engagement therewith, a sprocket having a ratchet wheel rotatably mounted on the housing, driving pawls cari ried by the housing and engageable with the ratchet Wheel, holding pawls for the ratchet wheel, a bell crank lever having an adjustable arm, a connection between the adjustable arm of the bell crank and the shaft, and power means for oscillating the bell crank.

11. In cartridge feed mechanism, a guide, a sprocket mounted adjacent the guide, a drive for the sprocket including a friction clutch, power means for intermittently actuating the drive and manually operable means for actuating the sprocket.

- 12. In cartridge feed mechanism, a guide, a sprocket mounted adjacent the guide, a drive for the sprocket including a friction clutch, means for actuating the drive, and manually operable means for actuating the j sprocket.

13. In cartridge feed mechanism, a guide,

a sprocket mounted adjacent the guide, a drive for the sprocket including a friction c lutch, and power means for intermittently actuating the drive.

14. In cartridge feed mechanism, a guide, a sprocket mounted adjacent the guide, a drive for the sprocket including a friction clutch, and means for actuating the drive.

AUGUST DABRASKY. 

